Charles A. Nelson (Carl Albin Nelson) was born in the province of Östergotland, Sweden in 1854, left for America in 1879, and married in St. Paul in 1887. He was a stonecutter in Milwaukee for a time before returning to St. Paul to work for Butler-Ryan Company as a stone sawyer on the construction of the Capitol. He once brought home a slab of marble for the family’s wash basin. It continues to be passed down by Carl’s descendants. In 1901, Carl and wife Jenny moved their growing family to Lory Lake, Isanti County, Minn. They cleared the land and potato-farmed until Carl died in 1932. Carl was known for ingenuity in devising ways to make farming easier, a trait he likely had acquired while working on Capitol construction marked by inventiveness and resourcefulness. Prior St. Paul addresses included 132 Washington and 214 Chestnut St., both south of downtown near the river (First Swedish Lutheran Church membership records).